Generally, turbomachinery such as gas turbine engines and the like includes a main gas flow path therethrough. The main gas flow path generally includes a gas intake, a compressor, a combustor, a turbine, and a gas outlet.
Gas turbine nozzles are static components of a gas turbine configured to direct heated gas in a hot gas path to the rotating buckets or vanes of the turbine. In turbomachinery such as aircraft engines, a secondary air flow path is extracted from later stages of the compressor and fed into the nozzles and buckets of the turbine. The purpose of this air is to keep the hot gas path components at a safe temperature, as well as pressurize the low-temperature capable components that are not in the primary flowpath. This secondary air flow does not contribute directly to work done by the turbine and excess leakage of this flow is desirably avoided.
There is a need for further sealing structures in turbomachinery, and in particular to airfoil profile-shaped seals for reducing leakage, for example, between adjacent stationary airfoil shaped components of turbine nozzles.